Harry's Task
by Rachemiester
Summary: Everyone seems to have a task at the end of the fourth year. But what about Harry?
1. Default Chapter

Harry's Task

By Rachemiester with a little help from Miyoung

Disclaimer- J.K. Rowling's. Not ours. Good, now let's get on to why you clicked on the link.

Chapter 1- The Change

The leaves shuttered as a cold wind blew. Dark shadows hid unmentionable creatures. One howled, adding more to the cold then the wind.

Harry shivered, and pulled his cloak tighter. He knew, technically, that he shouldn't be here, in the forbidden forest, but now was not the time for technicalities.

At the end of last year, almost everyone dear to him had been set on a dangerous task- Hagrid to the giants, Sirius to find the "old gang" and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley- well, he wasn't sure, but it was almost certainty dangerous.

He had met the "old gang the week before- Lupin, Sirius Arebella Figg and Mungdugus Flechter. He had learned his parents had been part of it too. He wasn't allowed to know what they did- it was of up most secrecy, and only Dumbledore and the minister knew.

It _was_ surprising to find out elderly Mrs. Figg from down the street was a witch, but- he smiled- it wasn't _too_ surprising.

He quicken his pace through the forest- the first rays of the sun were peeking up from the horizon. _I wonder how long it will take them to notice I'm gone_, he thought. He could picture it in his head.

__

Ron would wake up and get dressed. He'd go down to the common room to wait 

for Hermione. When she comes down, she'll ask where I was. Ron would say I was probably still sleeping, and go back upstairs to wake me up. He's draw back my curtains, and yell that I wasn't there. Within 15 minuets the entire castle would be searching. He grimaced. _All that for the famous Harry Potter._

Draco's words from third year came back to him: _If it was me, I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in the castle like a good boy. I'd be out there looking for him. _Ron and Hermione had yelled at him then for considering taking Draco's advice. And here he was, two years later- taking it. All because of the dream.

Of course, Draco had been talking about Sirius Black. But Harry was looking for the real criminal.

The sun was rising higher. Harry checked the watch he'd gotten in Diagon Alley. 6:15. Ron would be getting up any minuet. He broke into a run.

* * *

An hour later, he was at the edge of the forest, looking at the village that lay ahead. Harry took of his pack, and got out some muggle clothes. It seemed symbolic some how, to take of his black robes, and put on the green sweater and jeans.

Making absolutely sure now was around, he took out the compact he'd "borrowed" from Ginny, and carefully covered up his scar. He then took out the brown contacts he'd gotten over the summer, put them on and stuffed his glasses into the bag. 

Next, he found a small vial of the face-changing potion he'd brewed. He then held his nose-it looked almost exactly the same as a polyjuice potion- and quickly swallowed some of the potion. 

He grimaced- though it was hard because the various things on his face were rearranging them selves, giving him a drastically different face. 

Now for the final step. He took out the aging potion Fred and George had given over the summer as a thank you for the money he'd given him.

He carefully measured out sixty drops- he needed to look at _least_ twenty- and quickly gulped them down.

His face burned as new hair appeared, and his skin, bones, and muscles painfully grew 5 years growth in less then 5 seconds.

He looked in the small mirror of the compact. His cheek bones were higher, his face longer, and his nose shorter. His eyes, even though they were brown, looked much the same. Freckles dotted his face, making his newly dyed auburn hair- he'd dyed it before setting out. 

He rubbed his cheek, smiling slightly at the sand papery feeling it now had, and felt the rest of "his" face over.

He checked his watch again. 7:30 AM Tuesday. He'd need to do this again on Thursday at 7:30 PM.

He looked at the village that lay ahead, took a couple of deep breathes, and set off almost as if under orders.

* * *

Once in the village, he walked straight to the bread and breakfast he'd found some time before, and looked it over.

It looked fairly respectable. The sky blue paint was chipping of in some places, and some shingles were falling of in some places, but the grass was neatly trimmed, and nothing was in major disrepair.

He cautiously opened the door. A large, dark lobby came into view, with a little old man snoring at a desk at the far side of the room. Harry walked over and cleared his throat.

The man jolted awake, and quickly sat up straight. "Can I help you?" he said, looking as he was trying to deny the fact that he'd been asleep.

Harry nodded. "Yes" He stopped- his voice was a bit deeper. "I'd like a room please?"

"Of course," the man said, and took out a large ledger book and pen. "Name?"

"Henry Cleese," Harry said smoothly. It was a lie that he'd practiced over and over, until he'd felt more like Henry Cleese than Harry Potter.

"Address?"

"Four Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey."

"And how many nights?"

"Just one."

"That'll be 50 pounds, 19 shillings."

Harry nodded, and took out part of the muggle money he'd gotten exchanged at Gringotts.

The man smiled s he put the money in an old looking cash register. "Why are you here? Holiday?"

"Research for my semester project."

"Oh? What's it on?"

"Healing plants of the forests of the Northern United Kingdom." He'd deliberately made the topic sound long and boring to discourage questions from curious muggles.

"What school?"

"London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine."

The man nodded slowly, and motioned for Harry to lean in closer. "I wouldn't be doing' my research in _that_ frosts," he said, jutting his thumb to the forbidden forest.

Harry did his best to look surprised. "Why not?"

"It's haunted, some say. Strange howlings come out, and some folks _swear_ they've seen werewolves."

Harry dismissed those thoughts with a wave of his hand. "Fiction. Pure fiction. Can I have my room now?"

"Right. Here you are Mr. Cleese," handing Harry a key. "You go down that hallway, and it's the third down on the left."

"Thank you"

Once in his room, Harry collapsed on to the bed and stared at the ceiling. _How can I be doing this?_ He mused. _Make the entire magical community into an uproar, all because-_ he stopped. He couldn't even bear to think of it. He sighed, sat up and dumped the contents of his sack onto the bed to take stock of what he had. 

Cloak, invisibility cloak, robes, glasses, change of muggle clothes, muggle money- 500 pounds- magical hair dye, sneakascope, wand, age and face potions, some freezed dried food, broomstick, cauldron, and potion ingredients. It was a good thing the pack was magical- bigger on the inside than on the outside, and bewitched to be feather light.

He jammed this all back into the sack, and turned on the telly. 

A woman reporter appeared, sitting at a news desk. "This is BBC news. 15 year old Harry Potter-" a small picture of himself popped up behind the lady- "has disappeared form his boarding school in northern Scotland. Anyone who spots him should call the number at the bottom of the screen."

Harry turned it off, silencing the woman, but not his thoughts.

* * *

Ron awoke to the _wondrous_ sound of his alarm clock. "WAKE UP LAZY BONES!!!!" it screamed in his mother's voice. 

Ron groaned, rolled over and turned it off. As he got dressed, he glanced over at Harry's bed. _Strange,_ he thought. _Harry usually sleeps with at least _1_ drape open. And he's usually up before me too._

He headed down to the common room to wait for Hermione. Around 7:00, she came down, looking as sleepily as Ron felt.

"Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Sleeping in, I suppose."

Hermione looked at her watch. "It's 7:00!" she yelled. "He needs to get up, we have detention with Snape in 15 minutes!"

"Okay, Okay, I'll get him up," said Ron, struggled to get out of his cushy armchair, and went to the dormitory.

Seamus, Neville, and Dean were up and getting dressed. 

"Is Harry up yet?"

Seamus shook his head. "We thought he was with you."

Ron went over to the bed, and drew back the curtains. "Wake up sle- He's not there!" he yelled in disbelief.

"Does he have Quidditch practice?"

"No, we have a detention."

Cold sweat ran down Ron's face as he ran down the stairs. "He's not there!" he said, his voice shaking a bit.

Hermione got up, and ran with him back up the stairs.

Seamus, Dean, and Neville yelled and ducked out of sight as Hermione entered. She ignored them, and rushed over to the bed. 

She and Ron pulled apart the sheets, searching for a note, searching for _anything_ that would say where Harry was.

She grabbed Ron's wrist. "We have to tell somebody! Come on!"

The two ran out of the common room and collided with Snape. His cold eyes looked down at them.

"I believe you two and Potter had a detention with me, that started 10 minuets ago," he snarled.

Hermione and Ron quickly launched into speech.

"Harry's gone!"

"His bed's empty!"

"No note or anything!"

"Nobody's seen him!"

Snape looked at there panicked faces and knew they weren't lying. A queasy feeling filled his stomach as the three ran towards Dumbledore's office.

Panting, they arrived at the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Acid pop!" yelled Snape, and they rushed up the stairs.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, quietly humming and doing paper work. "Hello?" he sang absentmindedly, and looked up. "Merlin's beard! What's wrong?"

Hermione and Ron quickly told him what had happened. Dumbledore jumped up, and grabbed three owls, some parchment, and a quill. He hurriedly wrote out three notes, and sent the owls out.

"There! One to the ministry, one to out contacts at the BBC- _yes_ Severus, I do find it necessary- and one to Sirius. Severus, come with me, we need to alert the castle." Dumbledore looked at Ron and Hermione sharply. "You two go to your common room and _stay there_!"

* **

Within a quarter of an hour, the teachers had alerted their houses, confined them to their common rooms, and had started to search the castle and the grounds, while Hagrid, Fang, and Professor McGonagall had began searching the forest.

In the Griffindor common room, Hermione and Ron sat silenced by the fire. Ron was pale, and he rocked back and forth praying silently. Hermione's face was buried in her hands, as she sat sobbing quietly. Much of the castle was like them. With the teachers in a panic, the boy-who-lived missing, and He-who-must-not-be-named on the rise, what else could they do?


	2. Encounters of the Dog-kind

A/n- This poor chapter. It's suffered about three rewrites, each one almost entirely different from the last.

Read and review- but please, don't review if you're going to complain about my spelling. I already know I can't spell.

A warm beam of sunlight slowly entered the mountain side cave, bringing Sirius Black slowly and gently to conscious to a new day. Birds twittered out side, a breeze softly blew, and it was just the right temperature.

He was grateful for the dawn. He had gotten up in the middle of the night, having had a very strange nightmare. 

He lay on the ground for a moment, trying to decide what to do with this beautiful day. Maybe he'd roam the village in his dog form, and perhaps get some meat from the baker. Or walk around the mountain, or go visit Harry. The possibilities were endless.

As he lay, contemplating what to do, he was attacked by something large, brown, and fuzzy. It took him a few moments for him to realize it was a post owl.

After about five minutes of cursing that would have made even Ron blush, Sirius had managed to wrestle the letter away from the frantic owl.

Panting, he quickly read the letter, which immediately explained the owl's frenzied mood.

__

Sirius,

Harry's gone missing. I need you to be at the forest in your dog form as quickly as possible.

Dumbledore

Sirius suddenly felt very cold inside, despite the weather, not only because of the weather, but because of the dream.

Fifteen years ago, fifteen years that had seemed like a hundred lifetimes, Lily and James had named him Harry's godfather.

Being a wizard godfather was totally unlike being a muggle one. Not only did you have responsibility over the child if the parents died, but theirs was a deeper connection with the child.

A wizard godfather or mother had an ability to have the same dreams as the child when the ancient magic deemed it necessary. This profound connection was very rare, and Sirius had never met anyone who had had it.

He had been told, during the ceremony, that he would know when it was the child's dream, and not his own. He could not be told how he would know, but he was assured by the wizard performing the ceremony that he would.

He had dismissed the thought from his head the moment he was put into Azkaban, and it came back to him in a sickening shock.

He was certain that the dream he had had last night was Harry's, there was no question of that. The question was, did it have anything to do with Harry's disappearance?

The feeling of uneasiness still in his stomach, he changed into a dog, and quickly set off for Hogwarts.

He arrived no more then fifteen minutes later at Dumbledore's side. Dumbledore seemed to be in deep thought, so Sirius gently nipped his leg to get his attention.

Dumbledore looked down, a look of annoyance on his face, which vanished as he recognized Sirius.

"Ah! Good, you're here. I need you to search the forest for Harry's scent. Who ever took him could have only gotten away on foot or by broom, because they can't disapparte, and I put that charm against Portkeys up last summer."

Sirius nodded (something that looked odd on a dog), and set out walking around the perimeter of the forest.

He'd gotten no more then 50 yards from Dumbledore when he picked up Harry's scent- and only Harry's scent.

He barked, and Dumbledore rushed over.

"Have you found his scent?"

Sirius nodded.

"That's good. Why did you call me over?"

Sirius growled, annoyed that he couldn't covey what he had found out to Dumbledore.

"Could you write it out with your paw?"

Sirius nodded, and quickly wrote something in the dirt.

Dumbledore squinted, as he tried to read the writing. "No…other….scent. Is that right?"

Sirius nodded again.

"How odd," said Dumbledore slowly. "Perhaps they took a masking potion- but why would they not give any to Harry?" He thought for a moment. "Sirius, it's best if you follow the scent. Be careful though, it could be a trap."

Sirius immediately began running into the forest, leaving Dumbledore thinking at the edge of the forest.

***

Harry stood on the other side of the forest, pencil, and notebook in hand,

completely oblivious to the fact that Sirius was on his trail. 

He studied the tree in front of him closely, and, not being sure of what else he could do, started to sketch it. He had been drawing for about a half an hour when a voice interrupted him.

"That's a very good sketch. What kind of tree is it?"

He spun around to face a pretty, young women, with dark, almost completely black hair, and eyes. She looked somehow familiar.

"Do I know you?" he said very slowly.

She stuck out her hand. "Jennifer Smartson. We're staying at the same inn."

Somewhat shaken, he shook her hand. "Henry Cleese."

She looked at his drawing. "It _is_ very good. Are you majoring in art or something?"

"No, botany."

"Too bad, you'd make a good artist."

He blushed a little. "Thanks. Er…why are you up here?"

"Visiting some relatives. They told me not to go anywhere near to the forest, and I noticed you. By the way, where are you from?"

He was about to answer her question, but she screamed, and pointed into the forest. 

"What's that??"

Harry looked to where she was pointing, and saw a very familiar, big, black dog- Sirius.  
Hoping that he hadn't been somehow recognized, he ran back to the village after Jennifer.

Sirius watched the two of them run, feeling completely confused. The boy had had Harry's scent- but looked nothing like him, and was at least five years too old. 

But, if it wasn't Harry's scent that he had been following, and it was the boy's, what was he doing in the forest, and on Hogwarts grounds? 

And curiously still, a few minutes later, he saw- or thought he saw- the boy upon a broomstick, quickly flying away.

Quickly saying good-bye to Jennifer, Harry ran back to the inn, his heart pounding. He burst into the inn, and quickly ran up to the room.

As he ran around the room, collecting his belongings, he silently yelled at himself for forgetting that Sirius was a dog, and therefor, could sniff him out. 

He scribbled a note to the innkeeper, apologizing for leaving so quickly, saying that he'd gotten word of a plant that grew south of here, and since his break was so short, he had to go immediately.

He grabbed his broom and invisibility cloak, hopped onto the broom, and pulled the cloak around him. After a quick check to see that he was completely covered, he swung his sac on over his shoulder, and swiftly flew away.

Harry flew south for what seemed to be hours, but according to his watch, was only 45 minutes. Scanning the ground for a spot to rest, he saw a clearing in the thick forest below, and set himself down against a tree.

As he lazily stared around, he spotted something moving frantically in a prickle brush a few feet away. He walked over, curious, and saw that it was a small barn owl with a letter tied to his leg.

He careful grabbed the owl, and swiftly untied the letter. The owl hovered around him, confused, about this strange man who had taken his post.

Harry slowly read the letter in his head. 

_Dear Harry,_

This is Ron writing. I don't know if you'll get this…Pig might not be able to find you…

Hermione here- Harry, I'm completely aware that this will never reach you, it's completely futile, and it was Ron's idea.

Why are we sending this any way?

I don't know…

Well, any way, if you can read this, just send Pig back with a detailed map of where you are, and a full description of the kidnapper.

Hermione & Ron

He sat on the ground, trying to think of the best way to respond to the letter. He couldn't say where he was…or why he had gone…

Suddenly a light bulb went on in his head, and he took out a sheet of parchment and a quill from his sack, and hastily wrote, trying his best to disguise his handwriting. With out signing it, he grabbed the owl- which was, in fact, Pig, and tied the letter on.

As he watched Pig fly away, he felt a strong, sudden urge, to hop on his broomstick, and follow the owl home.

Back at the castle, Fred and George were trying, unsuccessfully, to cheer Ron and Hermione up.

"Come on Ron! He's _the_ Harry Potter!" said Fred.

"He saved the Philosopher's stone!" added George.

"Killed a Basilisk!"

"Winner of the tri-wizard tournament!"  
"He escaped from You-know-who _three_ times!"

"What's a kidnapper gonna do?"  
Hermione was about to tell them of, but was interrupted by a tapping on the window behind her. Spinning around, she cried out, "Ron! It's Pig!"

Quickly, Hermione opened the window, and grabbed the letter. She read it softly to Ron.

_Ron and Hermione,_

Your attempts aren't as futile as you think.

Just use your head.

Hermione glanced at Ron. "This isn't Harry's or Sirius's handwriting, is it?

Ron shook his head. "They would've signed."

Hermione looked at him again, and said, "Well, whoever it's from, we have to show it to Dumbledore."

__


	3. A conspiracy Unmasked (Sorry JRR Tolkien...

A/n- Thank you for vacation! And thanks to all who reviewed! On with the story!

Disclaimer: Everything is the WB's and JK's. Except for the title of the chapter, that's JRR Tolkiens ^-^.

"Where the hell is his invisibility cloak?" Ron yelled in frustration.

"I don't know!" Hermione said, collapsing on Harry's bed with a sigh.

After showing Dumbledore the note, the three of them had decided that it would be best to brew a tracking potion. One of the ingredients was something of immense value to the person- preferably a family heirloom.

"Well- wait a minute!" Ron cried. "Where's his Firebolt?"

"What, it's not in the trunk?' Hermione said, quickly getting of the bed and walking towards the trunk, to take a look. "And what's this?"

Ron stared at the empty, cardboard box she was holding, and started to laugh. "He dyes his hair!"

Hermione looked at the box again. "But it's red hair dye."

"Why would he dye his hair _red_?"

They were interrupted by a bang ! as the door burst open. Ginny stood in the threshold, a tube of mascara in her hand. 

"Have you seen my councilor?" she demanded.

Hermione looked at the oddly. "Uh…no. May I ask _why_?"

Ginny blushed a little. "Well, I was feeling kind of down, and Fred suggested that I should give George a makeover…"

Hermione held up her hand. "I don't want to hear any more."

Ron, however brightened up. "Will you call me down when you're done?"

Hermione swiftly punched him in the stomach. "Why would we have your makeup?"

"I searched my trunk, and the dorm, and asked pretty much everyone else…oh well. 'Bye."

After Ginny had left, Hermione sat back onto the bed and put on a look of extreme concentration.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Hermione frowned. "Ginny never loses anything…"

"So?"

"Think Ron, think! That's what the letter said…"

"You do it. You're better at this sort of thing."

After a few minutes of silence, a flash of inspiration came on in Hermione's head, and she jumped up and yelled, "I've got it! Of course, why didn't I see this before? Hair dye, invisibility cloak, and make up! Ron, see if any of his muggle clothes are in there!"

Ron quickly looked through the trunk. "Nope. No muggle clothes."

She started pacing around the room. "The kidnapper must've disguised him! They came into the room, stunned him, dyed his hair, covered up his scar, and put him in muggle clothes! Plus, they probably knew Dumbledore had put up those charms, and that Harry had a Firebolt and an invisibility cloak. Now, I bet all of the Death Eaters know he can fly, but what about the cloak…"

"Uh…Hermione?"  


"What?"

"Wormtail. He was in our dorm for three years?"

She slapped herself on the forehead. "Of course!" She grabbed Ron by the wrist. "Come on!"

They dashed down the stairs, past the crowd that was gathering by Ginny and George, through the hallways and stairwells, and out the front down, and went up to Dumbledore.

"I've got it!" Hermione gasped, and collapsed on to the grass. She handed the box of make up to Dumbledore. As he examined the box, she began to talk again. 

"We were looking for the cloak, and I found that. Then, Ginny came in looking for her makeup, and she _never_ loses things like that. _Then_ we discovered that all of Harry's muggle clothes were missing, and so had his Firebolt. And as I was trying to think of someone who knew Harry had all of that stuff, Ron suggested Wormtail."

A smile crossed Dumbledore's face. "Hermione, Ron, that's brilliant!" The smile quickly faded. "Of course the whole damn ministry thinks he's dead…"he spat out angrily.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. They'd never seen Dumbledore like this. Suddenly, a large, black dog came bounding out of the forest, when up to Dumbledore, and started barking madly.

"Let's go up to my office Sirius, so you can talk." He turned to Ron and Hermione, and said, "You two can come along, I think you can help us."

Once in the office, Sirius transformed, and began talking immediately.

"I came out of the forest, and there was this boy. He looked about twenty…and I know it sounds silly…but he looked like Lily. Green eyes, red hair…well, anyway, there he was, drenched in Harry's scent, and standing there, drawing a tree. Well, this girl he was with, she saw me, screamed and they ran away. Then, I swear Dumbledore, I saw the kid up on a broomstick…"

Hermione then spoke. "Professor…Do invisibility cloaks work on animals? 'Cause Harry used to say that he thought Mrs. Norris could see him when he was in it…"

"As a matter of fact, they don't work with domesticated animals. The ministry decreed it when they were first made, when people were mostly on farms- cut down on burglaries."

"And the boy had red hair? And green eyes?"

Sirius nodded.

"It could've been Harry! Sirius, we found a red hair dye container in Harry's trunk! And the girl could've been Wormtail! He would run away if he saw you!"

Dumbledore quickly stood up. "Sirius, get Buckbeak, and start searching the skies immediately. You two come with me."


	4. The Dream

Chapter 4- The Dream

Later that night, Harry fell into a deep sleep…

__

It was the dream _again…the one he had had last night…he couldn't bare it not again, not again, not again…_

He woke up drenched in sweat- only to see Sirius standing above him.

"Am I still dreaming?" he asked.

"Perhaps." Was all Sirius said, as he sat down next to Harry, and lit a fire. He stared into the flames, and spoke. "I had the dream last night too."

He turned to look at him. "How-"

"It's because I'm your godfather," _Sirius said, and looked at him. "Nice disguise, James would've been proud. But your makeup is wearing off, I can see your scar."_

Silence, and then Sirius spoke again. "Why are you doing this?"

"I must."

"You're only 15."

"I was only one when I survived Voldemort.."

"Lily was there."

More silence.

"Sirius…d'you think you could get Hermione? And Ron? I might need them." He then violently shook his head. "No. I must do this by myself, I must, I must…."

Harry then really woke up. The sun was shining up in the sky. He looked at his watch- 9:30 am, Wednesday.

He coaxed a few coals into life, and stared into the small fire, thinking about the dream. He didn't have the part about Sirius last night- it seemed so _real_. He had _felt_ the sweat, the ground below him, the fire- weren't you not supposed to feel anything in a dream?

And could Sirius really have his dreams?

_Hermione would know,_ he thought._ If I told her, she would go to the library to look it up, if she didn't already know. _

He was beginning to feel a longing for _friends._ He wouldn't mind somebody even if it was Draco. The fact was, that Sirius was right. He had never had to do anything like this before- he had always had his mother, or Ron and Hermione, or even Fawkes with him when he faced is foes. 

He sighed, and pulled out his cauldron. He had work to do.

Another cauldron boiled miles away, in a dudgeon in Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were standing by it, with Dumbledore off to one side.

"Okay," said Ron, his arm positioned over "I'll put in Wormtail's treat, and you put on Harry's old watch on the count of three. One…two…Three!"

The treat and the watch hit the potion with a _splash!_, and a huge bellow of smoke rose from it. It slowly went back to the ground, and formed a perfect topographical map of the country side surrounding Hogwarts. A red dot and a silver dot quickly lighted up in a forest.

Dumbledore looked at the two adjacent dots. "That must be them," he said. 

"How far away is that?" asked Hermione.

"About 60 miles. Now you two listen to me very closely." Dumbledore looked at them with a grave look. 'I need you to go to him."

"But Professor- _why?_" Hermione sputtered.

"Professor Trewlaney's first prediction:

__

'It will happen in the 5th year, The one-who-lived will disappear. His friend will go to him, with advice from a friend, and then he will succeed his task.'

"I've been thinking about that for 14 years, ever since Harry became the boy who lived. And I think the time is imminent when you must go."

Ron and Hermione stared at him. Had the Professor gone mad? Or maybe placed under an impervious spell?

Dumbledore smiled a little. "He's going to need your help. Go."

Ron and Hermione finally nodded, and walked away.

Harry whipped his head around- he had heard something in the bush next to him.

__

It was probably a rabbit. Or maybe a squirrel, he thought to himself. _Nothing to worry about._ He resumed brewing his face altering potion again. A few minuets pasted.

A loud _snap!_ Came from the same bush, and Harry quickly turned around, whipped out his wand, and faced the unmoving shubbery.

_It was just a squirrel, it was just a squirrel, _he told the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and turned back to the potion.

Then, an almighty sound of cracking sticks filled the air. Harry barely had time to react before he felt himself grabbed, and all went black.

He opened his eyes a little, and quickly shut them. His hands and feet were throbbing, and he could feel ropes that felt strangely like his invisibility cloak around his wrists and ankles. His head quietly complained about being split in half.

He opened his eyes again, and looked around. He was in a small, gray room, with a thin window carved into one wall, and no doors.

_Wonder how I got in here, _he thought dully.

He looked himself over. He seemed to be bound to a chair, with water colored ropes around his ankles.

With a shock, he realized that he was no longer in muggle clothes, and dressed in fancy, black dress robes. He body also seemed to be back to normal, and his glasses were on. He was back to normal, which meant that it was anywhere past 7:30 PM, Thursday.

He barely had time to ponder this, when a person appeared in the room.

"You!" Harry yelled.

__


	5. Never Alone

A/n- Hello, again. This may or may not be the final chapter of "Harry's Task". Perhaps an Epilogue, but that'll be it. Once again, thanks to all who reviewed. On with the story!

It was Barty Crouch Jr.

A shrewd smile came upon the man's face, reminiscent of the one he'd worn last summer, as he looked at Harry with empty eyes.

Harry struggled uselessly against his bonds, as he stared back at Crouch. "But-but-_you had the kiss!_"

Crouch continued to smile. "Nothing is ever final Potter. Not even death itself, as my master has proven to the world. My master has set the dementors free, did you know that Potter? Or has your fool of a minister not told you? It is possible to get your soul back, it _is_.

"My master will be hear soon. This time there will be no duel. My master has other ways of proving his superiority over you."

Harry glared at Crouch, and noticed something. He could only look _at_ the eyes of Crouch, never _in_ to them. They seemed like glass eyes, unseeing and fake.

A quote he had heard once came floating into his head. _Eyes are the windows to the soul_. Crouch's eyes had their shutters firmly closed.

"You're not real!" Harry blurted out. "You're soul isn't there! Voldemort _lied_, you're not real!"

The eternal smile didn't even flicker. "Of course I'm _real_ Potter. Of course I am." Crouch suddenly looked up. "My master comes!"

A few seconds ticked by. Then, a Death Eater appeared in the corner. And another. And another. Soon, the room was filled with them, and they slowly encircled Harry.

The air filled with tension as the minuets passed, with no sign of Voldemort. The Death Eaters fidgeted. Some looked at Crouch, and a few of their own in wonder. Whispers of Azkaban drifted through the room.

Suddenly, the room turned black as night, and as cold as winter. A pillar of smoke rose from the ground, and then quickly evaporated to reveal Voldemort.

He looked even more terrifying than before. He no longer had the look of a body fresh from the grave, but rather as a peak-of-health man.

He turned his scarlet eyes towards Harry, and the scar in Harry's head erupted with a current of whit hot pain.

Voldemort turned away, to look at the Death Eaters. "Azkaban has been broken open! The dementors are among us now, as our allies. And our fellow followers have returned from Azkaban!

"I have called you hear today to witness the boy-who-lived's downfall." He turned towards Harry, and continued. "This time there will be no portkey, no Priori Incantinum to save you. You are all alone, Harry, all alone.

"I'd admit I was foolish to try to duel you, Harry. But never mind that. I have captured you again, and I will prove my greatness to you." 

He reached his long fingers into his robes, and pulled out his wand.

"It's quite simple," he said, "I have discovered a spell, that was hidden deep is Salazar's book. He used it to defeat Godric, as I will use it to ruin Harry Potter.

"The concept is simple, as I said. This spell will convert Harry's and my magic into two orbs. Who's glows the brighter is the stronger wizard. That orb will return to it's wizard, as will the other. The wizard-" he flashed a ugly smile to the Death Eaters-"can do with it as he pleases."

He then started over to Harry, his wand out. He touched it to Harry's chest, and yelled "Unveil!"

A strange feeling came over Harry. It was as if something within him was zooming towards Voldemort's wand. And something else was there, too. Something was trying will all it's might to prevent the magic from leaving.

At last it was done. Harry felt queer, and empty inside, as he watched a golden orb floating lightly in the air, next to a brighter, silver orb.

A smile appeared on Voldemort's face. "It is done! And now-" He stopped, looking at the orbs.

The gold one suddenly began to glow brighter. The light grew and grew, until it was as bright as the mid-day sun. 

The Death Eaters shielded their eyes as the orb floated back to Harry, the silver orb following. Harry didn't mind the brightness, though. It seemed beautiful to him, a perfect, shining star in the darkness of the room.

It then entered his body again, rushing towards every part of his body, as if it was glad to be back, and wanted to tell everyone. 

Voldemort was kneeling on the floor. "_It can't be!_" He whispered. "_It can't be!"_

He then turned to Harry. "I'll do anything! Anything!"

Harry thought, not sure what course he should take. The fate of the world had rested onto him, and waited patiently. "Tell me," he said slowly. "Why you tried to kill me."

Voldemort looked up at him, looking more like Tom Riddle then himself. "All right. Anything for my powers.

"You know I was an orphan, and lived in a muggle orphanage. I had no one to love me, or care for me. All I had was a cruel master, who locked children up in the attic when they were bad.

"It was in one of those long hours in the attic when the owl from Hogwarts came, and I left their, hoping never to return.

"As the years passed in Hogwarts, I grew cynical, and was almost friendless. The students loathed me, the Gryffindors worst of all.

"I swore then, that I would destroy them. And your family was his heirs.

"So one by one, I killed them all. Except the Evans. They were Godric's true, rather then spiritual heirs. And, they were of course, muggle. But I was unwise not to kill them when I could.

"For Lily Evans was a suitable heir for Godric's magic, which had been roaming the earth for centuries.

"And you were her son, and James Potter's son. His physical and spiritual heir, together. I didn't want to kill them. I knew bad would come of it. 

"But you were there, symbol of Gryffindor, and the mud-bloods. I could kill you. And that's what you wanted to hear."

Voldemort looked up, looking through the ceiling out into the heavens. "And perhaps that's what I wanted to hear too." He collapsed.

The Death Eaters rushed over. One leaned over to feel Voldemort's pulse. "He's dead!" he cried, "Dead!"

The Death Eaters all turned toward Harry, wands out, faces menacing. They slowly advanced on him.

The room the exploded- literally.

After the dust cleared, Harry saw two coughing figure atop the rubble- Ron and Hermione. Under the rubble, the Death Eaters lay, unmoving.

Hermione gave a cry, and rushed over. She began to untie his bonds, and Ron began to explain what had happened at the castle.

"We were so worried!" Hermione said, and Ron nodded. "You could've been dead, or sick, or hurt!"

"Well, I'm not," said Harry. "And I'll tell you everything once we get back to the castle. I want to think it over."

The ropes came of, and Harry put his arms around his two friends. "Thanks for coming," he whispered. 

He then looked up, at the open sky. "I'm never alone," he said, in an odd voice. "Not as long as you two are on this earth. Never alone."

He turned back to Ron and Hermione. "Let's go."

And the three walked, hand in hand, toward the setting sun. 


End file.
